Statistical Analysis. Humor. Knicks.

Menu

Knicks 117, Nuggets 90: Low Key in Sochi

EDITOR’S NOTE: As most of you probably noticed, Clyde was not on booth duty for tonight’s game, having left yesterday to attend the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Afghanistan. However, he did manage to compose an email for every Knick that suited up. They arrived by giant water-borne Popov bottle just moments ago.

Five Things We Saw

Contrary to pretty much anything resembling human logic, the Knicks managed to beat the Nuggets at their own game, forcing the issue in transition at every opportunity and getting good looks early and often. When the primary options weren’t there, the Knicks exploited Denver’s woeful pick-and-roll defense, which INSERT JOKE HERE.

One of these years, the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference will feature a paper proving that NBA teams located in cities more than 1,000 above sea level average at least 20 turnovers any time they step foot in Madison Square Garden. Tonight the two squads combined for 46. Or roughly one every minute. Or roughly how is that possible.

The Knicks used 11 of those turnovers in the second quarter to blitz the Nuggets to the tune of a 30-18 frame, building a lead from which the Bockers would never look back.

Did I mention that Denver’s defense was like a Sochi hotel?

Does this delay the inevitable (and you know what I’m talking about)? Probably. Did the offense amount to fool’s gold mined from two-bit Colorado souvenir shop? Probably. Will we follow this up with a putrpid performance on Sunday? Probably. Have I ceased to care one way or the other? Probably. Do I still wish we had Wilson Chandler on our team? Probably.

Even so, it’s nice to get a dab of decent basketball betwixt the the doom cookies. Or something. Guys were engaged, the ball moved, and the dread of what’s to come was put on ice — at least temporarily. A good tune-up for Sunday’s title with the increasingly formidable Thunder. To expect a competitive game is probably a bit optimistic, but if we play like we did tonight, there’s no reason why we can’t give those gas-peddling franchise-thieves a run for their money. Sorry.

Yeah, hard to get excited about wins anymore. I really don’t enjoy the team.
Except I love seeing Amare’ out there playing well. I still don’t get why he’s getting only 20 minutes.
The man is putting up strong O numbers and his boarding appears improved as well. 8 in 20 means 12 in 30, which ain’t bad at all.
Free Amare’!

Tyler has been playing really well. Would Woodson trust him as a regular rotation piece from now on? If that’s the case then with Bargnani most likely done for the season, I would try to add a younger defensive big because KMart keeps breaking down. KMart is great in his role but i’m beginning to wonder if he can stay on the floor. I would even include KMart in that deal if it meant adding a younger big who plays D. And i’m saying this because I believe Aldrich should be in the rotation as well. Aside from the defensive scheme, Woodson’s reluctance to play young guys is kinda counter productive. Aldrich. Tyler, and Murry don’t have to play big minutes, but between the 3 of them we can get some spurts of defense and rebounding. 2 things we sorely need. KMart’s hurt and I don’t know if it’s because Woodson doesn’t wanna play anybody else or something else is is goin on, but Aldrich-Tyler-Murry-MWP can contribute. MWP can be a 3 and D guy at 2 frontcourt spots. No burn. Unless his knees are worse than reported, there is NO WAY he can’t get 10-15 minutes a night and be asked to play D and hit open shots.

The surprising thing about Tyler, Aldrich and Murry is that it really isn’t that surprising. Lots of people have mentioned that using some of the younger guys in spots would have helped, especially if the goal was to make some of the older players last a while. There are enough nights when there are members of the backcourt not doing a good enough job or injured to get Beno some run. The most frustrating thing about this season is that the Knicks haven’t learned from any of their brief moments of success. Just good enough to fool the front office into thinking the season is worth salvaging, but not bad enough to get woods on fired.

Frank O I def respect your opinion. But I love the young guys they bring it every night emotionally. JT and Timmy at least. JR is playing Smart and is probably the teAms best point guard, Melo is Melo and As you said Stat is rounding into form. If we can get Kmart back in the second half and everyone keeps it up I don’t see why the team can’t make noise in the second half. What is it that you don’t like? The D?

They got off to such a shitty start that I do agree it’s hard to get excited but I just like to see them play well

This team is so fun to watch at the garden when winning. I went last night and after scooping some pretty good seats behind the knick bench there is a lot of camarderie. Stat’s son (featured in the chicken preparation video on the big screen) was trying to guard JR at the half! Melo, shump street and JR were chatting during garbage time like high school athletes getting ready to go out for some drinks after the win. I still think there were too many 2nd and 3rd shot attempts by Denver with the Knicks benefitted from the nuggs woeful shooting. Still nice to get a win vs a team that bested the tested pacers and the thunder from down unda'(excuse the poor Clyde takeaways vs your excellent job).
At least christie brinkley wasn’t the only show at the garden last night. Let’s go knicks. More cowbell please!

Here’s the rest of February.
OKC, SAC, MEM, NO, ORL, ATL, DAL, GSW
Only SAC, DAL, and GSW are home games. NO, ORL, and ATL is a three game in four night stretch. I’d say they’d be doing well to go 4-4. They probably won’t be favored in five out of the eight games.

April: BKLYN WAS MIA TOR CHI BKLYN TOR
To me there’s no good reason I’ve seen to believe they can win more than half of these games and better reasons why they could lose more than half.

So, I see potentially going 20 and 12 the rest of the way to finish 40-42. I’m positive they haven’t played their best ball. I mean, you’d think they’d be an approximation of last years team for at least a stretch that features multiple games against MIL, BOS, PHI and CLE.

Then they could make all the bad memories disappear with an upset over the pacers in rd 1.

I have no idea what to expect from this team anymore. I half expect them to show up in OKC tomorrow and eke out a 3 point win or lose by 45. I’m trying now to just enjoy watching the development of Tyler and Hardaway Jr.

Knicks still holding out hope of obtaining Rjon Rondo, huh? Seems like a typically myopic Knick move, as it will probably cost that 2018 pick, Hardaway, Shump, and taking on salary– that could make the Lowery deal Dolan poo-pooed look pretty reasonable, no?

Also, per the same story, Eric Gordon is being shopped. Would a better move be to obtain Gordon for Bargnani and get a pick to go along with him? Maybe dump Smith or Felton with him to make the 2015 salary hit softer. Either way NO saves a lot of $ and gets a former #1 draft pick(!), so maybe it would be worth it to them to give us some rebuilding blocks.

(Ultimately, wouldn’t rebuilding blocks be better than either Lowrey or Rondo??)

It is just so stupid that they’re not only going to sign Melo to a terrible contract, but they’re going to make a terrible deal to entice Melo into taking what would be a terrible contract for the Knicks. This is one of the dumbest franchises around (and it is a sad sign of how dumb other teams are that I can’t even say “the dumbest” because there are other franchises who are even worse).

The Knicks are a unique level of dumb because they are too stupid and impatient to utilize the advantages they have in their favor in terms of exposure, marketability and profit maximization. Simmons has mentioned it time and again, but winning a championship with the Knicks is the holy grail of the NBA.

Whomever is the franchise player that leads the Knicks to the promised land is pretty much guaranteed a lifetime of fortune, immortal status in NY and a bottomless barrel of opportunities to cash in on said success. Clyde is the toast of the town wherever he goes for winning championships with the Knicks more than 40 years ago.

Any competent ownership and management would realize this and be patient in building a team realizing that a solid base and structure in New York lends itself to being competitive always. Instead we do dumb shit like pay over the top in deals where we hold leverage, overpay players when there’s no competition, give away picks without thought, stay loyal to coaches and players that continuously make stupid choices and decisions both on and off the court, pay sexual harassment lawsuits out of pocket because our owner thinks he can change the world one flawed person at a time, etc.

Whatever be the case most of us have tied ourselves to the mast of this ship for better or worse and I just try and enjoy whatever glories we achieve, however minor they may be. I loved last year’s team because the ball flew around the perimeter, THAT 14 game winning streak, winning the Atlantic when the MSM didn’t give us a chance, Melo’s 50-40-40 stretch and ending the Pierce-KG Celtics on their court. I can’t say I like this team nearly a lot of reasons, but I still watch basically every game and I try to enjoy Hardaway, Tyler, Melo’s truly great play and Pablo being Pablo.

Rondo is a point guard with no jump shot who couldn’t crack a .500 TS% even in his prime, so in other words, an ideal Knick point guard. He has also recently had major knee surgery, so he has that going for him too. It all makes too much sense.

Its impossible to get excited about these Knicks at all this year. The only time I got excited was on that 5 game streak where they beat Miami and I was like ohhhh shit we in business. But then they lose 5 straight to negate that. Then they win 4 straight (yes, against bad teams) and I’m cautious this time…like I’m on the street, I’m lookin both ways and shit…but I ain’t cross yet…just as I’m about cross they turn around and lose to the Bucks. The Heat loss I can accept. But the Bucks? The Knicks are 1 of 8 teams to lose to Milwaukee. Milwaukee hasn’t beat a .500 team all year except the Wizards(OT). They beat Boston twice, the Wizards, Sixers, Lakers, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago and the Knicks. So if you’re looking for the class of team to which the Knicks belong, look no further. Anyway this win is meaningless. Every win is meaningless unless they’re coming out with net positives. They win 5 straight? Great, but then they lose 5 straight…so we’re going nowhere. You beat Denver…. awesome…but the Thunder are gonna take that win back tomorrow (most likely) so what’s the point lol

@DRed with friends near the north end of Central Park , but I’m looking to explore anyway so I’m happy to wander off from that area

If you’re still looking for a good place to watch the knicks game today, and want to stay near Central Park North, there’s a nice neighborhood restaurant/bar at 110th & CPW. They have a huge screen and a lot of knicks fans – and cheap food and drinks. (sorry – forgot the name of the place)